Fire-curtain.



PATENTBD NOV. 17, 1903.

J. W. RENO.

FIRE CURTAIN.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1903.

2 SHEBTSSHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

PATENTED NOV. 17, 1903.

J. W. RENO. FIRE CURTAIN.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1903 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

NO MODEL.

ATTORNEY WITNESSES:

No. 744,4o4.-

UNITED STATES Patented November 17, 1903.

JESSE W. RENO, oF NEW'YORK, N.

FIRE-CU RTA'IN,

BPEOIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent 744,404, dated November 17,1903. Application flied June 16,1903. Serial 1% 161,650. (No model.) 7

To all-whom, it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, J ESsE W. RENO, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Curtains, of whichthe following is a specification. My invention relates to firecurtainsor closures for the well-openingsof stairways and other similaropeningswhi'ch it'is desirable/to close in caseof fire in order to shutoif the currents of air and smoke between the different floors of abuilding, and especially in order to prevent smoke from passing from thefloor orstory wherethe fire islocated'toother floors or stories wherethere is no fire.

The object of my invention is to provide a curtain or closure forwell-openings and other similar locations which shall be convenient andeffective. in its construction and operation, which can be installed inpublic buildings, such as dry-goods and other stores, without producingan unsightly appearance; and one which may be operated to close eitherautomatically or manually.

My'invention consists in providing a novel means for closing thewell-openings of stairways which can be operated manually orautomatically.

The preferred form of my invention con-- sists in providing a flexiblecurtain which is im'perforate, or substantially so, for the-purpose forwhich it is intended, in providing a drum on which said curtain isadapted to be wound, in providing guides for said curtain which arearranged in such a manner that as the curtain is drawn out or unrolled.from said drum it is guided toward the front of the well-opening or thelanding of the stairway, in providing means for actuating the unrollingof the curtain either manually or antomatically,in providing means forwithdrawing or rolling up the curtain on the drum, and in other novelfeatures of construction to be hereinfter morefullyexplained anddescribed.

One of the most serious consequences of fires in large modern stores,especially where a fire is confined to one floor,-results from smoke'coming'in contact with goods stored on floors other than those on whichthe fire occurs. It is alsowell known that a large are due to smokealone atpoints remote from the location of the fire. It'is also wellknown that fires, especially in tall buildings, are

greatly augmented by currents of air passing up from story to'storythrough the well-openings of stairways. By means of my improvedfire-curtain the smoke resulting from'a fire may be confined to thefloor on which the fire occurs, and thus a large amount of damage bothto individuals and merchandisespared.

' In the drawings accompanyingand forming part of this specification,Figure 1 repredetail section, on an'enlarged scale, of the end of thecurtain and a flexible band secured I thereto. Fig. 6 isa partial sideview showing the means for winding up the curtainand withdrawing it fromthe well-opening. 1 The reference charactersare used in the same sensein all of the figures and the specification'.

Numeral 1 represents the well-opening surrounded by the balustrades.

Fig. 3 repre- I 2 represents a stairway leading up to the landing 3 atthe front end of the well-opening.

4 represents balustrades which rise from the sides and rear of thewell-opening to the usualheight and which are madeimperforate.

Bythe word imperforate herein used, I mean imperforate to the extentthatthe passage of air or smoke in material quantities is prevented.

5 represents a drum mounted on the shaft '6 above the rear end of thewell-opening, the

shaft 6 being jo'urnaled inthebalustrades 4. On'the drum 5 is wound theflexiblej'curtain 7,- which is preferably made of thin sheet metal orof.;somesuch material as asbestos,

but which may be made of any other convene ieut materiah' whethercombustible or noncombustible, asi-thje purpose of the'curtain is nojtsomuch to resist the'action of fire as to prevent the passage of-airorsmoke.

too

8 reprege'nts guides extending along the topsof the balustrades"horizontally to the'front ends thereof and thence bending downward "andextending to the landing 3. These'guides are preferably made of hollowtubes having. a longitudinal slot therein on their inner sides and areadapted to receive the outer edges of the curtain and to guide the sameas it is unwound from the drum 5.

9 represents guide-sheaves located tangent to the horizontal andvertical portions of the guides 8, a portion of the inner side of thecurve of the guide being cut away to permit the flexible bands 10 topass l'rom the surface of the guide-sheave into the horizontal portionsofthe guides 8. The flexible bands or cables 10 have their ends securedto the curtain at points 13 a distance from the end of the curtainsubstantially equal to the height of the center of the guide-sheaves 9from the landing 3. At a point on the cables 10 near the end of thecurtain I provide a lug 11 and in the curtain opposite 11 holes 12,adapted to receive the lugs when these portions of the cables andcurtain are upon the sheaves or in the horizontal parts of the guides 8,the purpose of this construction being to prevent that portion of thecurtain between its end and the attachment 13 of the cables frombuckling as the curtain is being drawn out.

' The cables 10 pass from the sheaves 9 rearwardly to the sheaves 14,upon which they are wound. The sheaves 14 are secured to the shaft 15,which is journaled in the balustrades and is provided with aratchet-wheel 16, secured thereto. Mounted on the shaft 15 is the spiralspring 17,. which has one end secured to the ratchet-wheel 1'6 and theother end to a fixed connection on the balustrade. The shaft 15 projectsout beyond the balustrade on one side and is provided with a square end18, adapted to receive a winch or handle for the purpose of winding upthe cables 10 on the shaft 14. A'pawl 1.9 is secured toa pivot fixed tothe balustrade and engages the ratchet-wheel16. The pawl 19 has anarmature 20, which carries the pole-piece 21, adapted to operate in thesolenoid-magnet 22. The magnet 22 is in a circuit a b, which containsthe battery 0 or other source of electrical energy. The circuit isprovided with a switch d,'b'y means of which the circuit may be closedto energize the solenoid-magnet, and it is also provided with athermostats, by means of which the circuit is closed when thetemperature reaches a predetermined point. As will be seen, when thesolenoidis energized the pawl 19 is drawn out of engagement with theratchet 16, thus permitting the spring 17to wind up the cables 10, andthereby draw out the curtain and close the well-opening. The shaft 6 isprovided with the squared end 23 for the purpose of receiving the handle25 to wind up the curtain or open the well-opening. Thespace betweentheend of the guides 8 and the rear end of the well-opening is closed by acover or extension 26.

In the operation of the curtain when the curtain is fully wound up andit is desired to close the well-opening the pawl 19 may be thrown out ofengagement with the ratchet 16 manually or by means of closing theswitch (1, or it may be dohe automatically where the temperaturesurrounding the thermostat c has risen to a predetermined point,or incase the spring should fail or in case it is not desired to use thespring to close the well-opening the handle 25 may be placed upon theend of the shaft 15 and the curtain drawn out manually.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is' 1. The combinationwith the well-opening of a stairway, of' an imperforate balustradearound three sides of said well-opening, and an imperforate closureadapted to close the remaining side and the top thereof.

2. The combination with the well-opening of a stairway, of animperforate balustrade around said opening adapted to guard three sidesthereof, and the removable im perforate closure forclosing the remainingside and the opening bounded by the top of said balustrade.

3. The combination with the well-opening of a stairway, of imperforatebalustrades to guard three sides of said well-opening, and a flexibleimperforate curtain closing the remaining side and the space bounded bythe top of said balustrade.

4. The combination with the well-opening of a stairway, of imperforatebalustrades on three sides ofsaid well-opening, a curtain and drumlocated above the rear end of said opening, guides for the curtainextending from the curtain-roll along the top of said balustrades.

5. The combination with the well-opening of a stairway, of imperforatebalustrades on three sides of said well-opening, a curtain and drumlocated above therear end of said opening, guides for the curtainextending from the curtain-roll along the top of said balustrades to thefront ends ofthe balustrades and thence curving downward and extendingto the landing of said stairway.

6. The combination witlrth'ewell-opening of a stairway, of animperforate curtain adapted to close communication through saidwellopening, guides for said curtain, a flexible connection secured-tosaid curtain and a winding mechanism for said flexible connectionwhereby said curtain is operated in said guides. y y

7. The combination with the well-opening of a stairway and imperforatebalustrades guarding three sides of said stairway, of an imperforatecurtain adapted to close communication through said well-openin g,guides for said curtain extending along the top andfront edges of saidbalustrades, a guide-sheave located at the intersection of the top andvertical portion of said guides, a flexible connection passing aroundsaid guide-sheave and secured to said curtain, and a winding mechanismfor said flexible connection.

8. The combination with the well-opening of a stairway, ofanim'perforate curtain adapted to close communication through saidwellopening, guides for said curtain, a flexible connection secured tosaid curtain and a spring-actuated winding mechanism for said flexibleconnection.

9. The combination with the well-opening of a stairway,of an imperforatecurtain mounted on a curtain-roll, guides for said curtain leading fromsaid curtain-roll to the end of said well-opening, a spring-actuatedmechanism connected with said curtain adapted to draw said curtain alongsaid guides to close the well-opening.

10. The combination with the Well-opening of a stairw'ay,of animperforate curtain mounted on a curtain-roll adapted to closecommunication through said well-opening, an imperforate balustradearound three sides of said well-opening, guides extending horizon-tallyalong the'tops of said balustrades to the front ends thereof, and thencevertically downward to the stair-landing, guide-sheaves "located tangentto said horizontal and said vertical guides, a flexible connectionsecured to said curtain at some distance from its end pass: ing aroundsaid guide-sheave, and a winding mechanism for said flexible connection.

11. In a fire-curtain for we11-openings, the combination with a curvedguide having horizontal and vertical portions,of a guide-sheave tangentto said horizontal and vertical. portions,aud a flexible connectionpassing around said guide-sheave and secured to said curtain at adistance from its end equal to or greater than the height of the centerof said guidesheave from the lower end of the vertical portion of saidguide and means upon said flexible connection adapted to engage saidcurtain near its end.-

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

- JESSE W. RENO. 'Witnesses:

ELLA TUOH, A. B. Bossn.

